County commissioners approve Project Mend incentives

The Davidson County Board of Commissioners approved $27,000 in economic development incentives for Project Mend during its meeting Tuesday at the Davidson County Governmental Center.

BY SHARON MYERSThe Dispatch

The Davidson County Board of Commissioners approved $27,000 in economic development incentives for Project Mend during its meeting Tuesday at the Davidson County Governmental Center.After the required public hearing, commissioners approved the incentive grant for Project Mend for $5,400 per year over a five-year period. Project Mend is an unidentified metal-working company that plans to invest $2 million and proposes to create 20 jobs over the first 36 months if it decides to relocate in Thomasville. Steve Googe, executive director of the Davidson County Economic Development Commission, requested the board pay the third-year incentive of $5,700 upfront to give the company more capital for relocating. He said that it was understood this request is a change from normal procedure, and the EDC has made the same request of the City of Thomasville."Due to the huge cost of the company to relocate we would request that the third-year incentive of $5,700 be paid upfront," Googe said. "This would provide a little over $10,000 to assist the company in building a future in Davidson County and Thomasville." Googe said the county should approve the economic development incentive grant because it will stimulate the local economy, increase the county tax base and revenues, result in the creation of new jobs and promote the welfare of Davidson County and its citizens."There is no question in my mind, that if this is approved, both the city and the county would see the investment returned quickly through property tax, school tax, water and sewer and other fees," Googe said. "The proposed project would result in the creation of jobs in Thomasville in Davidson County, but also provide more that $650,000 in payroll to be spent at businesses in Davidson County and Thomasville."Thomasville City Council has set a public hearing for April 21 on similar incentives for Project Mend.During the public address portion of the meeting, several citizens spoke in opposition of the proposed quarter-cent sales tax to fund a new high school in northern Davidson County.Barney Hill, co-creator of the Committee to Stop the Drom Sac Tax, gave an example of how much the estimated $42 million cost to build the new high school would be if you looked at the money in another form."We want to enable the voters to conceptualize the sum of $42,678,178," Hill said. "According to the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a dollar bill is 6 1/8 inches long. That's 49 eighths of an inch. So let's convert everything to eighths of an inch."If you stood $42,678,178 dollar bills end to end ... (that) would measure 2,091,230,722 eighths of an inch. This building measures 55 feet from the ground to the roof line. Fifty-five feet consists on 5,280 eighths of an inch. I divided 2,091,230,722 by 5,2800. The result I obtained was 396,066.41. That would mean that if you stacked 396,066 buildings like this on one top of the other, the top of the uppermost building would not be as high as the top of the 'beanstalk' of 42,678 dollar bills."Another co-creator of Committee to Stop the Drom Sac Tax, Jason Varner, also spoke in opposition of the proposed sales tax. He questioned why there has not been an independent needs assessment at Ledford High School or North Davidson High School, especially since there were areas available currently being used for extracurricular activities. He also questioned why, if the building of a new high school was so important, the funding for the new sheriff's offices was secured through the county funds before the school. "You say that our children are the most important thing, thus it stands to reason that the school would be made the top priority on the to-do list and as such you would assure its funding before any other project," Varner said. "Instead the sheriff's department projects have been slated to receive guaranteed funding in lieu of the school, therefore burdening the taxpayers with the task of coming up with the money to service the debt that this new school proposed to create. My opinion is this board is unwilling to prioritize projects in order of necessity and address them as such with the available funds that we have."Sharon Myers can be reached at 249-3981, ext, 228 or at sharon.myers@the-dispatch.com. Follow Sharon on Twitter: @LexDisptachSM

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